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Registered nurses say province is offering bad medicine

TORONTO - Oct. 22, 2008 - Registered nurses say the medicine Finance Minister Dwight Duncan is asking them to swallow to help soothe the province's economic situation comes with some harmful side effects.

Wendy Fucile, President of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO), says the government's remedy, spelled out by Ontario's finance minister earlier today, is being cast as necessary to steer the province during troubled economic times. But she says it leaves a bad taste in the mouths of Ontario nurses. "We're clearly disappointed with this decision. Nurses are already grappling with a serious shortage of health professionals and we were counting on the province to deliver on its promise to hire 9,000 nurses right away not later."

With this announcement as well as the delay of 50 Family Health Teams, RNAO says Ontarians will be denied access to heath care in their communities. "People right across this province depend on nurses for the health care they need and deserve. This announcement is a huge letdown," argues Doris Grinspun, executive director of RNAO, adding the delays will actually cost the government money, not save it.

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario is the professional association representing registered nurses in Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has lobbied for healthy public policy, promoted excellence in nursing practice, increased nurses' contribution to shaping the health-care system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public they serve.